Cosmic rays from remnants of quasars?

Considerations of the collision losses for protons traversing the 2.7 K black body microwave radiation field have led to the conclusion that the highest energy cosmic rays, those observed at \(\geq 10^{20}\) eV, must come from sources within the present epoch. In light of this constraint, it is here...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 1999-05
Main Authors: Boldt, Elihu, Ghosh, Pranab
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acceleration
Black body radiation
Cosmic ray showers
Cosmic rays
Galaxies
Magnetic fields
Microwaves
Quasars
Space missions
Supermassive black holes
Upper bounds
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Summary:Considerations of the collision losses for protons traversing the 2.7 K black body microwave radiation field have led to the conclusion that the highest energy cosmic rays, those observed at \(\geq 10^{20}\) eV, must come from sources within the present epoch. In light of this constraint, it is here suggested that these particles may be accelerated near the event horizons of spinning supermassive black holes associated with presently inactive quasar remnants. The required emf is generated by the black hole induced rotation of externally supplied magnetic field lines threading the horizon. Producing the observed flux of the highest energy cosmic rays would constitute a negligible drain on the black hole dynamo. Observations with upcoming air shower arrays and space missions may lead to the identification of candidate dormant galaxies which harbor such black holes. Although the highest energy events observed so far are accounted for within the context of this scenario, a spectral upper bound at \(\sim 10^{21}\) eV is expected since the acceleration to higher energies appears to be precluded, on general grounds.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.9902342